INSIDE

“I move, hic!, that we accept
the minutes, hic! as presented.”

By Meg Olson

The Point Roberts taxpayers association held their monthly meeting at Kiniski’s Reef tavern when no one showed up to open the community center.

At the April 6 meeting board member and new county planning commissioner and local resident John Lesow spoke with the association board about actions they could take to further their goal of acquiring Lily Point for public use. “All the options are open but if we want to act we need the acquisition of a portion or all of the Lily Point properties,” Lesow said. “This is an election year and it’s the time to voice our concerns if we want to make it happen. You have to be in the seats at council meetings.” He added that of primary importance was assuring Lily Point ended up in the new county parks plan as a high priority, and that he would keep an eye out from his position on the county parks steering committee.

Association president Michael Rosser said he had been in contact with an agent representing one of the Lily Point property owners. “All the property owners seem to have gone off on their own,” he said, and there is no longer one agent who can give a price for the whole area. He was given a price of $9 million for the parcels west of Claire Lane. “I’m getting a real sense we need to get a committee together to work on acquisition,” Rosser said. Lesow said he would work with such a committee on identifying potential funding sources.

Board member Kent Craig reported from the character plan committee that the chamber of commerce is installing webcams at Lighthouse Marine Park and at the Benson Road firehall. The firehall webcam will be aimed at the skatepark and give parents a way to check in on their kids. The chamber website already has live footage from the Lighthouse park camera, courtesy of Small World Tech, and the Point Roberts Marina camera.

As board member Doug Ritchie reported on the water district’s plans for a comprehensive rate study, Lesow said he was more concerned about the district’s violation of clean water drinking standards for chlorination by-products. “It’s a basic question. Should we or shouldn’t we drink the water?” he asked.

Ritchie said information he had found was inconclusive about the health risks associated with trihalomethanes, and state health authorities were not recommending people look for an alternate water source. “You’re smoking yet you want to drink bottled water for something that might not hurt anyone,” he pointed out to Lesow, who had taken advantage of the unusual meeting location to light up.

Water district manager Dan Bourks has said improvements to the system now underway are hoped to get the water supply back under state limits.